- Joined
- Aug 30, 2016
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Okay so for starters, my cat is a rescue. We came home this past Friday (8/26/16) to find her laying on the sidewalk in front of our house. My husband thought she was dead at first because she was completely sprawled out. As we pulled in the driveway, she picked her head up and was watching us, looking as though she might bolt a couple of times until I made him stop so I could get out and try to approach her. She was VERY friendly and actually ended up being the same cat I'd seen a month ago that I thought was someone's pet because she was on someone's porch and then ran up on another porch after following us down the street a bit.
Anyways I couldn't catch her and bring her home a month ago but we got her inside on Friday and immediately realized she's pregnant. She has a large belly and while staying up late Sunday night she came and lay in the chair beside me and I watched her belly bulge and shift as the kittens moved about so from what I've been reading she's at least 7 weeks into it.
Today, Tuesday, She has become VERY affectionate and clingy and wants me with her the whole time. I've also noticed she seems a bit more restless than usual and, while not exactly NESTING, she HAS been spending a lot of time on our enclosed front porch where we have been shutting her in at night until the kittens are born (she has NOT gone back outside since we brought her in. The porch is completely enclosed with no way for her to get outside. We also make sure she has everything she needs out there and the temperature is okay before we close her out there at night.)
I've made her two different nesting boxes, one that has two tabs taped over the top with a square entrance to make it more cave-like for her and sits beneath my desk so she has somewhere to escape the bothersome, screeching 2 year old that chases her around if she sees her. And the other is on the porch with her and is basically just a box with a blanket in it. I don't know what else to do for her but she will occasionally go in the cave one and refuses to even touch the other one.
Earlier tonight I heard her chirping a bit and meowing from the other room so I called her and she's stuck to me like glue ever since. I'm sure she'll be going into labor soon from everything I've read on here and everyone else's descriptions matching up with her recent actions but she's still too new to us to be 100%...
My concern is that she is definitely still kitten age. This poor dear is most DEFINITELY NOT over 1 year old and more than likely was a kitten someone couldn't adopt out so they put her on the street to fend for herself. She's far too sweet to not have had SOME form of handling in her short life. My mother and law and I think she looks to be about 8 months, maybe 10 at the most. Is there anything I should expect/prepare for with her being so young a mom? I've read some young moms will abandon their kittens/have complications... This is also our first (and unless we find another pregnant stray, our LAST) litter of kittens so what should we have on hand for the birth? I have plenty of old towels ready to go and I know where I can get milk replacement for the kittens if they need it but I feel like I'm missing something... Any advice is very welcome.
P.S. My husband and I intend to have her spayed immediately after the kittens are born and are discussing the possibility of keeping the kittens (she's our only cat atm...we just had to put down our senior a few months ago and haven't had the heart to get another yet) and will DEFINITELY have them spayed if we keep them as well. If we do NOT keep them, they will be going to my mother in law who works with rainbow animal rescue near us and will see to it they get spayed before being adopted out. We are definitely pro spay/neuter! And def Anti-declaw! We actually have talked about building a cat habitat in our home (shelves up the wall, beds hanging from the ceiling, etc) to give her and possibly her kittens places to hide up high where they prefer. Good kitty parents just NO CLUE about pregnant cats because we've never had one! Ours were always fixed and we had our senior from the time he was about 1!
Anyways I couldn't catch her and bring her home a month ago but we got her inside on Friday and immediately realized she's pregnant. She has a large belly and while staying up late Sunday night she came and lay in the chair beside me and I watched her belly bulge and shift as the kittens moved about so from what I've been reading she's at least 7 weeks into it.
Today, Tuesday, She has become VERY affectionate and clingy and wants me with her the whole time. I've also noticed she seems a bit more restless than usual and, while not exactly NESTING, she HAS been spending a lot of time on our enclosed front porch where we have been shutting her in at night until the kittens are born (she has NOT gone back outside since we brought her in. The porch is completely enclosed with no way for her to get outside. We also make sure she has everything she needs out there and the temperature is okay before we close her out there at night.)
I've made her two different nesting boxes, one that has two tabs taped over the top with a square entrance to make it more cave-like for her and sits beneath my desk so she has somewhere to escape the bothersome, screeching 2 year old that chases her around if she sees her. And the other is on the porch with her and is basically just a box with a blanket in it. I don't know what else to do for her but she will occasionally go in the cave one and refuses to even touch the other one.
Earlier tonight I heard her chirping a bit and meowing from the other room so I called her and she's stuck to me like glue ever since. I'm sure she'll be going into labor soon from everything I've read on here and everyone else's descriptions matching up with her recent actions but she's still too new to us to be 100%...
My concern is that she is definitely still kitten age. This poor dear is most DEFINITELY NOT over 1 year old and more than likely was a kitten someone couldn't adopt out so they put her on the street to fend for herself. She's far too sweet to not have had SOME form of handling in her short life. My mother and law and I think she looks to be about 8 months, maybe 10 at the most. Is there anything I should expect/prepare for with her being so young a mom? I've read some young moms will abandon their kittens/have complications... This is also our first (and unless we find another pregnant stray, our LAST) litter of kittens so what should we have on hand for the birth? I have plenty of old towels ready to go and I know where I can get milk replacement for the kittens if they need it but I feel like I'm missing something... Any advice is very welcome.
P.S. My husband and I intend to have her spayed immediately after the kittens are born and are discussing the possibility of keeping the kittens (she's our only cat atm...we just had to put down our senior a few months ago and haven't had the heart to get another yet) and will DEFINITELY have them spayed if we keep them as well. If we do NOT keep them, they will be going to my mother in law who works with rainbow animal rescue near us and will see to it they get spayed before being adopted out. We are definitely pro spay/neuter! And def Anti-declaw! We actually have talked about building a cat habitat in our home (shelves up the wall, beds hanging from the ceiling, etc) to give her and possibly her kittens places to hide up high where they prefer. Good kitty parents just NO CLUE about pregnant cats because we've never had one! Ours were always fixed and we had our senior from the time he was about 1!